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Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi
Stung by charges of corruption in armament deals, India has taken several steps to streamline and make transparent the defence ministry's cumbersome process for purchase of military hardware.
The government will soon set up two bodies to oversee defence purchases - the Defence Acquisition Council, which will be headed by the defence minister and will decide whether military hardware should be purchased from abroad or produced indigenously, and the Defence Procurement Board, which will handle the nitty-gritty of the deals.
The creation of the two procurement bodies will be part of the sweeping security revamp announced by the government in May. Official notifications for the setting up of the bodies are likely to be issued within two weeks, defence ministry sources told Indo-Asian News Service.
The streamlining of the procurement process is also aimed at removing delays in purchases.
The Tehelka corruption scandal, which broke in March, forced George Fernandes to resign as the defence minister.
Sources said his successor, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, had taken personal interest in measures to "clean up" military procurement procedures.
"The DAC and DPB will be part of the steps that will make defence deals more transparent," a senior defence ministry official said.
Besides the defence minister, the other members of the DAC will be the chiefs of the three services, the defence secretary, the secretary for defence production and supplies, the secretary for defence research and development, the secretary for defence finance and the special secretary (acquisitions).
The defence secretary will head the DPB. Its other members will be the vice-chiefs of the three services, the secretary for defence production and supplies, the secretary for defence research and development, the secretary for defence finance, the special secretary (acquisitions) and the defence ministry's financial advisor.
As part of the efforts to streamline defence procurements, the ministry has also sought the help of the Berlin-based non-governmental organisation, Transparency International, which has helped member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in tackling corruption.
Michel Wiehen, a representative of Transparency International, made a presentation for Defence Secretary Yogendra Narain and other senior military and civilian officials at the defence ministry on Thursday.
Wiehen advocated the incorporation of Transparency International's "Integrity Pact" with bid documents to make the procurement system corruption-free.
The pact, authored by Wiehen, includes a code of conduct to stop collusion and non-professional behaviour. The pact was developed to help governments, businesses and civil societies fight corruption in the field of public contracting. It also aims at improving public trust in government contracting.
The government or its agencies, as "buyers", and private suppliers, as "sellers", enter into the pact. It establishes mutual contractual rights and obligations for fighting corruption.
Violation of the Integrity Pact could lead to cancellation of the contract, appropriate liability for damage, confiscation of the bid amount and black listing of companies for a period of time depending on the seriousness of the crime.
The defence ministry plans to put the structure of the DPB and the steps to be followed for procurements on its Web site.
Indo-Asian News Service
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